Feed clutch for cold headers



J. H. FIEDMAN FEED sxLUTcH FOR coLn HEADERS Oct. 14, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed April 8V, 1946 Www m M m 7 A OGL 14 1952 J. H. FRIEDMAN#2,613,776

' FEED lCLUTCH FOR com: HEAbERs 1' Filed April 8, 1946 S-SheetS-Sheet 4INVENTOR. JOHN H. F//EDMA/V BYM/m A TTNE YS Oct. 14, 1952 J. H. FRlEDMANFEED CLUTCH FDR coLD READERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Apr-11 s. 194eINVENTOR. JOHN H. F/Q/EDM/V AT TUR/VE YS 'proven unsatisfactory forseveral reasons.

Patented Oct. 14, 1952 FEED CLUTCH Fon COLD HEADERS John H. Friedman,Tin, Ohio, assigner to The National Machinery Company, Tin, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application April 8, 194.6, Serial'No. 660,571

2 Claims.

This invention relates to stock feed mechanism for metalworkingmachines, more particularly to an improved feed clutch for cold headers.

As an example of a type of machine which may employ my improved feedclutch, reference is made to Patent #1,856,028 issued April 26, 1932, toW. L. Clouse` Generally speaking, machines of this variety include astationary die, a heading tool mounted on a header slide andmovabletoward and away from the die to effect thev heading, a stock feedmechanism including an overrunning clutch to feed the proper lengthblanks from rod or wire stock, shearing mechanism to shear olf theblanks, and transfer mechanism for transferring the severed blanks intoproper position relative to the die so that they may be headed by theblow of the heading tool.

The stock feed device to which this invention relates feeds the stockintermittently. Generally speaking, lthe devices of this class includeVa pair of feed rollers which grip and feed the stock and means to drivethe rollers.' The drivenjshaft is usually connected to' a reciprocatingmechanism by means of an overrunning clutch, the arrangement being thaton the feed stroke of the reciprocating mechanism the clutchengageawhich turns the rollers and feeds the stock, whereas on thereturn stroke the clutch automatically disengages and the feed rollersare not driven.

Prior stock feed devices of the type -to which this invention relateshave included a clutch hub member supported on the shaft which drivesthe feed rollers, and a clutch housing vmember supported on the sameshaft and having an annular portion surrounding the hub member. One' oftheseclutch members is formed with a non-cir- -cular peripheral surface,and a series of rollers lie between the two clutch members, thearrangement being such that the rollers lock the two Ymembers togetherin one direction and permit on the shaft..

This arrangement found in the prior art ha The clutch member which formsa casing about the rollers has in the past been supported at one edgeonly. This has resulted in distortion and canting vtended to take theentire load of the feed drive.

Thus as the machine was operated various in- 2 dividual rollers tookloads which were meant to be distributed over the entire set of rollers,and as as result the rollers wore rapidly and in some cases they becamefractured. It is an object of this invention to prevent distortion ofthe clutch parts and canting of the rollers Iby providing a v clutch inwhich all parts are firmly supported,v

there being no overhanging portions subjected to heavy loads.

Another difficulty encountered with devices in the prior art arose fromthe fact that the clutch members were entirely suprmrted by a portion ofthe roller drive shaft extending out from the machine frame. This placedsevere bending stresses on the cantilever portion of the shaft andnecessitated that the shaft be made excessively rigid in order that norelative displacement take place between the carefully fitted parts ofthe clutch. It is another object of this invention to relieve some ofthe load on the shaft by supporting parts of the clutch in themachine'frame itself.

Prior clutch devices of the type to which this invention relates haveincluded a non-circular driving member designed to cooperate with the.

circular clutch member to form a wedge-like pocket for the rollers. Thenon-circular member `has been formed in a rather complicated shape andhas required expensive and complex machining operations for itsproduction. Furthermore, this member has been asymmetrical, so that itcould not be reversed in order to distribute the wear. It is a furtherobject of this invention to provide a symmetrical clutch member which issimple in design, which is readily machined, and which can be reversedto distribute the Wear. This object is attained by making the clutchmember in the shape of a regular polygon, the rollers being disposedbetween the center of each face and one corner thereof so that they liein a l wedge-like pocket. Other objects and advantages of my inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art as the followingdescription proceeds.

" In the accompanying drawings: y

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a cold header showing the driving linkagesfor the stock feed clutch. Fig. 2 is a sertion of the feeding portion ofthe header taken at 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the clutch and feed rollersdiagrammatically.

y Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the clutch mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the clutch mechanism with., the outersection of the clutch housing removed.

the frameat its other end.

`ing I- anaxially inwardly extending sleeve portion Ia which issupported on shaft II by sleeve bear- 1 a vided with a crank pin 3 whichpin, in turn',`

causes a reciprocating motion of crankarm 4. Crank arm 4 is pivoted at5to a portion B of the feed driving lever, this lever being pivoted at'I in the machine frame A. An outboard l 4 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4,these rollers operating as ratchet members in a manner which will bedescribed presently.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, within the feed housing B and mounted on shaftIl is a driving lfeed roller 26 which in cooperation with another drivenfeed roller 21 supported on its associated shaft 28, grip and feed thestock; S.

As can'beseen in Figs. `3 and, 4, the rollers 26 engage the innersurface of a race portion 22a formed on section I5 of the clutchhousing, and they also engage the outer surface of the driven hub 25.The hub 25 is polygonal in shape as can be seen in Fig. 4 so that it hasa support 8 may be provided for the pivot pin I if desired. An upwardlyextending portion 9 of the feed drive lever carries a block I0 whichvsupports a pivot pin II.I Block I0 may be adjusted in anyconvenientmanner on support 9, to provide the .properstroke The feeddrive rod I2 is pivoted at oneend to pin II, andat theother end by pinI3 to anl arm I4 whichlat- Y terearm forms vpart of the clutchhousing'I-Lnl Referring tov Fig. 2, the end of arm I2- can be vseen'pvoted on pin I3 which is carried by arm I4 of the clutch housing H.Clutch housing l1-1 is made up o f vtwo -major sections, an

ywhich shaft ismountedin the machine frame.

A collar I8 retains the clutch housing on the shaft at one end and acollarssuch as that shown at I8a may be provided` to retain the shaft.in

Section .EG of the clutch housing hasV an axially outwardly extendingportion Ia which is supported on shaft I 7 by means ci a sleeve bear-Section I5 of the clutch housing has ing .20. Sleeve portion I 5aconnects to radial wall portion 2 I which, in turn, joins with vanenlarged annular portion 22-to, form a housing for therollers.

The axially outer end of the portion 22 of seclr tion-Isof the clutchhousing is formed with an annular recess 29 which recess vreceives aprojectionr 30 formed on the wall.4 Ilia of the other clutch section IE.A series of bolts orA other fastening means SI threadedinto threadsSIU..

in section I5 ofthe housingjoin the clutch seetions I5 and IG together.n addition to being supported onshaft I'I by sleeve bearings I9 'and 20,the clutch housing H is supported within the machine frame by means ofrollers -23 which engage portion Itarof thev clutchv housing and whichare carriedby the outer race 24y formed in the machine frame.v Theassembly is prevented frorn-motion to the right as seen in Fig.

3 by a thrustarrangement shown at 24a-whereby a portion of the frame engages the VVwall 2I of the clutch housing. O-fV course, any standardvstruction. Y and Aoperati-onA of m series of peripheral surfaces 25a.Fourteen such surfaces are shown in the drawings but the number is notconsidered to be critical, the number of surfaces being largelydependent upon the diameter of the clutch and the load which it mustcarry. The rollers 26 are restrained axially by a pair ofretainingrings34 which are formed withapertures 35 to receiveprojections-.56 `integral with the roller 26. Apertures 35jareenoughlarger than the diameter-of the projections 36 on the roller, .topermit the limited cir.- cumferential motion. of rollers required forproper operation of the clutch. The series ofbolts or screws 3l, incooperation with tapped vportions 31a on hub 25serveto retain rings 34in, place.

As. can be seen in Figs. 4,y 5 and, apressure plate unit l?` is providedfor each roller. The pressure plate unit P includes a body andmountingblock 39 and a pressure plate 4t. The plate 4U is formedintegral with a plunger 4I, the` en tire assembly being mounted in theclutchby means of screws or other fastening devicesaseat 42. As seen inFig. 6, block 39 is apertured as atV 43 to receive plunger 4I, which`plunger is urged outwardlyb-ya coil spring 44 or other equivalentdevice.

The operation of the clutch is as follows:

When the reciprocating-.mechanism is that rection towards which .therollersy tend to Amove on `the feeding stroke.: In this arrangementthen, as the rollers tend to move with-the clutch vhousing they becomefirmly wedgedjbetween that housing and the hub, and the ciutch-v housingVthereby drives both. tl1e,rol' 1ers andfthe hub in the'feedingdirection. There is animperceptible amount of relative motion-gin thefeeding, .di rection before the parts move togetherc; On' the returnstroke the action just described is reversed for now the rollerstendtorll towards the Wider .portion of r.the vwedge-shapedj chamber,with `vwhich they ,unlock .and permit indmember 25remainingistationaryf,- g f pendent motion .of the clutchhousing, thehub Having completed the description of the-con- A v impro-ved `feedclutch, itcan be seenthat myginven-tion hasseveral advantagesf over,thosein the priori' art,l yAs can bebest seen in- Fig-3, thewportion22-.,of the clutch liousingl-I which: receives .the` radial thrust ofthe rollers, is supported at each end on bearings I9 and 2U. Thus, nocanting or distortion of the clutch housing under the powerful wedgingaction of the rollers vis possible, and if the parts are properly made,each roller will take its share of the load and will continue to do soeven under the relatively heavy conditions of loading encountered inthistype of machine. Likewise, it will be seen that the supportofferedby rollers 23 within the frame of the machine relieves the shaftof a great deal of the load to which it Would otherwise be subjected.This provides a very rigid and long-wearing construction and largelyeliminates all distortion or binding of the parts which might resultfrom iiexing of the protruding portion of the shaft. Also, thesupporting arrangement for the clutch housing used in my inventionprovides a substantially perfect dirt and dust seal for the highlyfinished rollers and clutch surfaces.

As can be seen in Fig. 4, my inner clutch member 25 may be formed as aregular polygon. This arrangement represents a great improvement overthe tortuous and complicated shaped members formerly employed for thesame purpose. First of all, being a regular polygon, with plane surfacesand no pockets or curved portions, the machine can be readilymanufactured by standard shop equipment and indexing tools. Anotheradvantage of the shape employed in my inven- 1 tion is that the hubmember is symmetrical and if it becomes Worn in the area engaged by therollers it can be taken off and reversed, in which case the areaadjacent the other corner of each surface 25a carries the load. Becauseof the symmetrical construction of the regular polygon, this reversal ofthe hub has no effect upon the direction in which the clutch will feedor upon its operation.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that details of theconstruction illustrated in the iigures can be modified. For example,the nature of the various bearings shown may be modified in accordancewith standard practice, either antifriction or plain bearings beingusable'according to the design and loads to be carried. Likewise,

it would be possible to make the clutch so that the hub is formed with acylindrical surface and the polygonal surface is formed in the clutchhousing, this being a mere reversal of parts.l Also, the hub could bemadeintegral with the shaft. The details of the pressure plateconstruction can be modified Without affecting the operation of theclutch, all that is needed is an arrangement whereby a steady pressureagainst the rollers is provided. In place of extensions 36 on therollers and apertures 35 in the retaining rings an extension could beformed on the retaining ring to enter an aperture 'in-the roller.Portion 22a which forms an outer race for the rollers, could be made asa separately machined and hardened ring in accordance With standardmachine design practice. Instead of rollers, other forms of ratchetmembers could be used Without modifying the action of thehousing insolidly supporting the assembly and the term ratchet members as used inthe specification and claims is intended to include rollers and othersimilar self-locking ratchet means. These'and other modifications of asimilar nature may be made without altering the basic operation of theclutch, and without departing from the spirit' of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the present invention so that others skilled inthe art may be able to understand and practice the same, I state thatwhat I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined inr what isclaimed. f

What is claimed is v 1. In combination, a machine frame having la borethereon, a driven shaft, an overrunning clutchV for driving said shaft,said clutch comprising a first clutch member fastened to said shaft, asecond clutch member having an annular portion surrounding said firstclutch member,

said annular portion being joined to a pair of oppositely extendingaxially apertured support portions, said support portions beingjournaled to said shaft, said second clutch member also being journaledWithin said bore in said machine frame, a series of'ratchet membersdisposed between said iirst and second members, and crank means on saidsecond clutch member for connection to an associated mechanism.

2. In combination, a machine frame, a bore formed in said frame, adriven shaft extending through said bore, anoverrunning clutch drivingsaid shaft, said clutch comprising a driven member fastened to saidshaft and having a driving surface, said driving member having anannular portion surrounding said driven member and spaced therefrom,said annular portion being joined to a pair of oppositely extendingaxially apertured support portions, said support portions beingjournaled to said shaft, one of said support portions being journaledWithin the bore in said machine frame, and a series of ratchet membersdisposed between said driving and driven members.

JOHN I-I. FRIEDMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,142,574 Huck June 8, 19151,309,749 Wilcox July 15, 1919 1,687,524 Smith Oct. 16, 1928 1,820,151Mullen Aug. 25, 1931 1,856,028 Clouse Apr. 26,1932 2,292,988 Bloomfieldet al. Aug. 11, 1942 2,371,653 Schuckers Mar. 20, 1945

